I say it is also so much less, and that's what makes it so much more for those who want a participatory experience or to those who want to spectate participatory behavior in other people. I hope its key concepts survive a while longer.

The camp with a differenceNever mind the weatherWhen you camp with Plug & PlyYour holiday's forever

Words mean what people decide they mean. If people call Burning Man a "festival," the word has a broader meaning for them than it does for people who insist it's not one. Arguing about whether BM is a festival is like arguing about whether gasoline is wet (yes if by wet you mean "liquid," no if you mean "watery").

If you want drama to stop following you everywhere, try letting go of the leash.

Is Everest not a mere mountain because there is no other mountain can compare in height (above sea level)?

I really can't think of any other event-genre besides "festival" to place Burning Man; so I use that term without feeling that I'm degrading the event. It's better than calling it a "big party" though I do like calling it "summer camp for adults."

"The essence of tyranny is not iron law. It is capricious law." -- Christopher Hitchens

BBadger wrote:Is Everest not a mere mountain because there is no other mountain can compare in height (above sea level)?

I really can't think of any other event-genre besides "festival" to place Burning Man; so I use that term without feeling that I'm degrading the event. It's better than calling it a "big party" though I do like calling it "summer camp for adults."

I have often described it as summer camp for adults, too, after starting off with "It's an art festival in the desert" and mentioning having to bring your own water. (The water business is brisk shorthand.)

"Summer camp for adults" is a weird and underwhelming phrase if not long-considered, but I like it because most folks who went to summer camp know that not only that it was giddy and fun, but that there was an emotional component to it--that one often makes strange, fast friendships in a short amount of time, and the memories endure.

*** 2013 Survival Guide ***"I must've lost it when I was twerking at the trash fence." -- BBadger

stretch80 wrote:I have to point out that Burning Man is not a Festival. One can find any matter of music festival all over the world. Nothing can be compared.

It is very probable that anyone who talks about Burning Man as being a festival has at most attended once, and has failed to realize that it is so much more.

Whew, that has been begging to get off my chest for months.

Yay! Can I give you a manly hug?

It's not the freaking Garlic Festival!It's not a drive-by art & wine festival that any tourist can pencil in to their itinerary!It's a way of life, and you're either in or you're out. Either you get it or you don't.

It's not a guide towards something that the world should follow to make a better place either. "Welcome home," I fucking hate when people say that shit. My home has a hot tub and is safe for my youngest to run around and not get dosed by some stupid granola shooting everyone with a water gun because he thinks everyone needs to be at his level. Burning Man is a dream, one week of a lot of fun. Just accept it and don't think it applies to the rest of the world.

The rest of the world doesn't plan food for only a week, everything to run on generators, and a fiery endpoint. Cheese and rice...

jadewombat wrote:It's not a guide towards something that the world should follow to make a better place either. "Welcome home," I fucking hate when people say that shit. My home has a hot tub and is safe for my youngest to run around and not get dosed by some stupid granola shooting everyone with a water gun because he thinks everyone needs to be at his level. Burning Man is a dream, one week of a lot of fun. Just accept it and don't think it applies to the rest of the world.

The rest of the world doesn't plan food for only a week, everything to run on generators, and a fiery endpoint. Cheese and rice...

jadewombat wrote:It's not a guide towards something that the world should follow to make a better place either. "Welcome home," I fucking hate when people say that shit. My home has a hot tub and is safe for my youngest to run around and not get dosed by some stupid granola shooting everyone with a water gun because he thinks everyone needs to be at his level. Burning Man is a dream, one week of a lot of fun. Just accept it and don't think it applies to the rest of the world.

The rest of the world doesn't plan food for only a week, everything to run on generators, and a fiery endpoint. Cheese and rice...

Thank you!Seriously, I couldn't agree more.

This is why I always spend my Greeter shifts welcoming people to beautiful downtown Las Vegas.

*** 2013 Survival Guide ***"I must've lost it when I was twerking at the trash fence." -- BBadger

Not to concerend what it might be.So happy to see what others make of it.I promised myself to probe all posibilitys and not to draw a conclusion. Basicly because I want to see it forever new.Then I ran out of mol.

.......................................................................................Oh yeah, this year I was totally twerping out at the fence. ~Lonesombri